Dear Jeff & List, Just thought I'd share my view on tuners who play, as I am one of them! Although I anticipate the "moment of truth" when I'm finished tuning and begin playing (which is when the tests turn into music), I love to hear the customer play because the response to the tuning job can be quite rewarding, and hearing someone else's music coming from my tuning rather than my own is neat. Yes, neat! I finished a tuning last week and the customer called over a 12 yr old neighbor who happened to participate in a lot of piano competitions and she has many awards to her credit at only 12. It was very rewarding to hear this person sit down and really go at it with classical pieces she performs for her competitions. Since it was an old upright that was in a garage for a year before I tuned and regulated it, the 12 yr old virtuoso made it sing and it was really rewarding. I must admit I haven't too much hands on experience yet so my encounters are pretty limited but I guess it is always a pleasure to hear someone else "play" your tuning even if you play yourself. Hope this was at least a little interesting! Larry Trischetta, Pa chapter. p.s.--I can never resist playing song bites during my tuning- I think hearing a "real song" in between the tests gives the tested intervals a taste of reality and confirm that it is "musical".
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